


Been waiting for a lifetime for you

by Karin1232



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bullying, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Famous Liam, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, M/M, Non-Famous Louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-14 14:21:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14771321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karin1232/pseuds/Karin1232
Summary: “Louis,” Niall said in a warning tone but Louis wasn’t having any of it.“I mean it Niall. He may be famous but that doesn’t give him to right to be such a dick,” he argued and then turned around to face Niall only to see that Mr. Superstar was standing right next to the Irish boy, eyebrows furrowed.“Wow I didn’t think that you’d have some dickhead friends,” Liam said, voice low and his expression hard as he eyed Louis from head to toe.Louis thought about apologizing at first because damn he had just insulted an apparently worldwide superstar and he had definitely made a fool of himself but then again this guy had just called him dickhead so why should he apologize then?“Really?” he questioned instead, voice threatening, “You finally show up after twenty minutes and yet decide to call me a dickhead?”ORLouis meets Superstar Liam Payne through his best friend Niall. Both Boys dislike each other right from the beginning only to figure out that the other boy isn't so bad after all.





	Been waiting for a lifetime for you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [radiantbeams](https://archiveofourown.org/users/radiantbeams/gifts).



> This is my entry for the writing contest (One Direction Fic Exchange). I hope that my Person is happy about it.

**_Been waiting for a lifetime for you_ **

 

It was a typical Friday night for Louis Tomlinson. The boy was currently standing in front of the mirror in his bathroom, putting some styling gel into his hair to make his fringe look good. Music from Shawn Mendes was blasting through the speakers of his phone, making him sing along loudly.

Upon being satisfied with his hair Louis quickly washed his hands and dried them before walking out  the bathroom, back into his room to put on some clothes.

“Hey Tommo, are you ready?” someone suddenly asked and when Louis looked around he saw his flat mate Niall standing in the doorway, looking at him smiling.

“Nearly done mate,” he replied before putting on some tight black jeans and pulling a plain white shirt over his head.

“You look amazing man,” Louis complimented Niall as he let his eyes wander over him.

Niall had styled his blonde hair like always, creating a quiff. His hair looked so soft that Louis really considered running his hand through it to confirm his suspicion but he decided against doing it because he knew that Niall would get mad about him ruining his hair. The blond boy was wearing skinny jeans and white shoes along with a black button-up shirt that curved nicely around his fit body.

“Same to you,” the boy replied as Louis grabbed his jacket. “Boys are going to throw themselves at you.”

“Let’s just see what happens,” Louis answered and winked.

Tonight was going to be a great night. They were on their way to celebrate both Niall’s birthday and the beginning of another year at university. Louis and Niall were both in their third year. The two of them had shared a flat ever since year one and had started liking each other instantly.

Niall was originally from a small town in Ireland and Louis had moved to London from Doncaster, a place that was actually much smaller than London.

With Niall being loud and funny and carefree getting along had been really easy for both of them. After a few days they had worked out a routine about who was going to go grocery shopping (even though they barely did that anymore because they liked to call take-out), and who was going to keep the flat clean.

They had started liking each other instantly and so they were still living together three years later. Both boys had a lot of friends and liked to go out partying every single week.

Tonight was going to be very special since Louis had rented an entire floor at the famous night club “Funky Buddah” for all of them. It was a typical night club right in the middle of London that consisted of a huge dance floor. There was a lot of space but since it was Niall’s birthday he had somehow managed to book the entire first floor for them. There was a nice balcony to overlook the people dancing underneath and even though it had been quite expensive Louis was really looking forward to spending a great night there.

“Let’s go then,” Louis said happily as he grabbed his phone and keys before following Niall outside. It was a nice, warm evening in the middle of September. London looked pretty by night, much different than Louis’ hometown Doncaster.

Once they were outside the building they already met a lot of people who went to the same university than Louis and Niall do. Most of them lived at the campus so it’s no surprise but it still was nice. The thing about both Niall and Louis was that they were quite outgoing.

Niall had always been a funny, loud and carefree lad while Louis had always been funny and mischievous. With Niall being around it was easy to get to know other people and for sure Louis didn’t mind.

Both boys were quite popular at university. Niall was known for his charming personality while Louis was part of the soccer team. He knew that he looked quite fit in his soccer uniform as he had overheard some girls talk about his bum once.

Louis had smiled at their comment but other than that he didn’t really care because the 23-year old was not interested in girls. Louis had come out to his mother nearly ten years ago when all of his friends had started dating some girls from their grade back at school.

People have always worried about the fact that they were going to show up at prom without a date while Louis had never taken interest in said thing. He still remembered his mother hugging him back them, telling him that it’s more than okay. He had known back then that she had meant it and he still knew that she did. She had never treated him different, not even when he had come home with another boy one day.

Back at school Louis had never had a problem talking about his sexuality but when he had started university he had found it incredible hard to talk about it so he had never said anything.

*

Once they all arrived at the club Louis quickly walked over to one of the staff members standing close to the entrance.

“Hey, I have a reservation under the name ‘Tomlinson’. We booked the entire first floor,” he said to the guy, happy about the fact that the music wasn’t too loud out there so the man could understand him quite easily.

“Oh, that’s you,” the man replied, eyeing Louis from head to toe. “I’ll just get my boss real quick.”

Louis stood right next to Niall who looked just as confused at the guy’s behavior. Some of their friends were chatting happily right behind them, the others had yet to arrive.

It didn’t even take a minute until the guy came back with a man in a black suit following right behind.

“Good evening gentlemen!” he greeted the lads politely, smiling widely as he did so. “It has come to my notice that you’ve booked our balcony for tonight. Unfortunately due to different circumstances I am sorry to inform you that you can’t sit up there tonight as we have a celebrity guest. Pablo, my assistant here,” he spoke, pointing at another bulky man who appeared right next to the manager, “will guide you to your table. We have made some arrangements for you so your first three rounds of shots are on us and you’re also getting two bottles of Vodka on the house.”

Louis stood there completely dumbfounded, trying to comprehend what he had just been told. He couldn’t help but feel angered. He had booked this freaking balcony about two months ago and no one had informed him that it was now taken by some stupid celebrity.

Louis had always disliked celebrities for said reason. He had never really understood why these people could get whatever they wanted by just blinking their eyes. It was rather unfair.

“I really don’t care about any celebrity guest that you might or might not have. I have a right to get this area because I booked it!” he said loudly, stepping closer to the manager who didn’t look fazed at all.

“If we’d gotten the call earlier we would’ve let you known but our guest only called today and I’m sorry to say this but he’s going to spend more money on drinks than you guys,” he explained, in a harsh tone obviously not interested in arguing. “Plus you’ve agreed to our ‘terms & conditions’ when booking online and it is mentioned there that under some circumstances we can’t provide this area. Right now you have two choices. You can either leave the club and go somewhere else, without getting your money back of course or you can sit at this table downstairs and get some free drinks.”

Louis mouth hung open ins both shock and disbelief. He actually just wanted to throw a punch at this absolute twat standing right in front of him and then leave and never come back but it was Niall who stopped him from doing so.

“We’ll just take the other area then. Thank you,” the Irish boy said, grabbing Louis’ arm and dragging him into the club.

*

“Why would you even do that?” Louis started to argue as soon as they all sat down at their table for the night.

“Oh come on this is my birthday so I want to party. I don’t need you to ruin this for me just because you’re pissed. Now loosen up, shots are on the house!” Niall grinned and left absolutely no space for another argument.

It was one thing about Niall that Louis absolutely loved. No matter how bad the situation might be he always made the best out of it. Niall was never complaining about anything. He was always this carefree and smiling person who jut brushed anything off.

It took about half an hour for the rest of their friends to arrive and soon after that the first round of shots was being served.

“Let’s go dance,” Niall yelled into his ear because the music was too damn loud and Louis could barely make the words out.

Some girls, Eleanor and Sophia, he thought their names were, were already dancing with some guys when Louis and Niall stepped into the scene.

The dancefloor was crowded, the music probably a bit too loud but both Niall and Louis didn’t care and just went with the flow.

“I’m wondering who this freaking celebrity guest is that stole our spot up there,” Louis yelled into Niall’s ear, not sure if the younger boy understood what he had said but when he saw Niall follow his gaze to the balcony he knew that he had heard him.

“Only one way to find out I guess,” the Irish boy replied with a grin on his face before grabbing Louis by his wrist, trying to make his way through the crowd.

On a normal occasion the small staircase wasn’t watched buy today two bulky guys stood in front of it. Their legs were parted, their muscular arms crossed over their chests. Their faces were hard, leaving absolutely no room for arguments while their eyes scanned the entire room.

Louis quickly noticed some giggling girls standing a little bit secluded from the dance floor, phones clutched into their hands, looking up the stairs expectantly.

“Hey ladies,” Louis said as he walked over to them, Niall following behind, eyeing these girls from head to toe. One of them was rather small but she was wearing some high shoes, making her legs look longer and skinner. Her black dress was barely long enough to fit over her ass, her breasts completely on display for everyone.

Louis couldn’t help but shake his head at her appearance, imaging his younger siblings to look like this. His younger teenage sister were fifteen and seventeen years old, barely old enough to go to a club but never in a million years would his mother allow them to go out looking like this. The girl standing in front of him had to be around his sister Lottie’s age.

The other three girls all looked a little bit older. They were all wearing some tight black skinny jeans, their shirts cropped. Niall seemed to have found a girl he liked and kept watching her with hungry eyes.

“Hi,” the youngest of them answered before checking both boys up.

“Do you know who this celebrity guest in here tonight is?”

“Of course,” one of them yelled, her voice slurred as she swayed on her feet. “Liam Payne is in the house!”

While Louis felt just as clever as before Niall gasped loudly, eyes growing wide.

The thing about Niall was that he was completely into music, listening to the freshest tunes all of the time. There probably wasn’t a single artist in London that Niall didn’t know. Truth to be told Louis had never heard of Liam Payne before. He could stay right in front of him without Louis recognizing him in the first place.

It wasn’t that Louis didn’t like music he simply wasn’t that much into it. He listened to the radio and downloaded some great tunes here and there while Niall was the person who would buy concert tickets, albums and use Twitter to get his favorite artists to follow him.

“This can’t be real,” Niall said, eyes still nearly popping out of his head, his hand flying up to cover his mouth in shock.

“Please don’t tell me that you’re going to wait here as well. We have to get drunk,” Louis quickly reminded him but Niall only shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“You never listen to a single thing I tell you, right?” Niall questioned, putting one of his hands on Louis’s shoulder before he continued. “Liam Payne is here. This is the guy I met back at the X-Factor.”

A few years ago – three Louis thought – Niall had auditioned at the British X-Factor. He had always dreamed about becoming a singer and had even made it through to boot camp, the next stage of the competition after the first audition.

Louis hadn’t known Niall back then, the audition thing had taken place months before the start of Uni and if Niall had made it through to the live shows he would’ve put all his effort into becoming a superstar and winning the show and then both boys would’ve never met each other.

Niall’s dream however had come to an end before it had actually started. He had made it through to judges houses as well but then had been told that this was the end.

Of course the boy had been crushed, being so close and yet so far. He had met Liam along the way and unlike him the slightly older boy had made it through to judges houses and had then even won the competition.

Niall and Liam had become friends, the had also exchanged numbers but when Niall had tried to call Liam to congratulate him on his success he had quickly learned that his number had already changed and he had never heard from Liam Payne again.

Of course Niall had followed his journey, knowing that he had become bigger and bigger around the world, his music selling extremely well, being number one in the charts constantly.

“Okay and what are you planning to do now?” Louis questioned rather annoyed.

Niall didn’t listen to his friend and made his way over to the stairs, where those bulky security guards were standing, Louis following behind.

“You can’t go up there, mate,” one of them said, placing his hands on his hips in a threatening manner. “Unless you have an invitation from Mr. Payne.”

“What? Oh no I don’t have one,” Niall explained but continued before the security guy could say something else. “Liam is a friend of mine. We both participated at the X-Factor. Could you possibly let him know that I’m here. I’m sure he still remembers me. My name is Niall Horan.”

“Mr. Payne is up there celebrating and I’m not going to disturb him. If you haven’t got an invitation to go upstairs you might as well just step back before I’ll have you physically escorted!”

“Hey, hey, hey wait a second, Louis stepped is as Niall was about to move back, “Just tell this bloke the name, he’ll remember him. If not, ho harm done, right? But what would Mr. Payne say if he found out that you wouldn’t let him meet one of his friends? You can escort me, I don’t care but go bloody upstairs and tell them that Niall Horan is here to see him!”

The first guard looked pissed and Louis exchanged a quick glance with his best friend, silently telling him that he was sorry for ruining their evening like this but the other security guard stepped in before his colleague could say something.

“Fine, I’ll tell him but if he doesn’t want to see you I want you to leave this area and don’t come back here tonight,” the guy explained while a smile appeared on Niall’s face.

“Thank you so much!”

With that the guy walked upstairs while the other one moved a little bit so that he was standing in the middle of the staircase, looking rather pissed at how things had turned out. He was probably going to have a discussion with his colleague later on.

“He’s coming,” Niall said excited as he watched the man walk down the stairs, Louis’ eyes fixed on some guy back at the dance floor.

“What?” he questioned as Niall grabbed his arm and turned him around.

“Mr. Payne will come down shortly so just wait over there,” the man told the two boys and Niall was grinning from ear to ear.

“Thank you so much!” he said before dragging Louis over to where the bodyguard had told them to wait.

Both boys were now standing next to this wall a few feet away from the staircase. Niall was biting on his nails, eyes fixed on the staircase. He had met Liam before, had befriended him but he hadn’t seen him in more than three years and Liam was a worldwide superstar now so he had probably changed in some way and so Niall was a little bit nervous.

Louis on the other hand kept looking over to the dance floor, eyes fixed on some rather hot looking guys, not interested in meeting some “superstar” but he also didn’t want to let Niall stay here by himself.

Time passed and twenty minutes later Louis was annoyed. This guy really had to be a dick because he had yet to come down to meet his old friend but he probably was too much of a superstar to do so.

“Well I’m sure that this guy is a proper dick,” Louis said without even looking at Niall, “Letting you wait for twenty minutes, such an asshole.”

“Louis,” Niall said in a warning tone but Louis wasn’t having any of it.

“I mean it Niall. He may be famous but that doesn’t give him to right to be such a dick,” he argued and then turned around to face Niall only to see that Mr. Superstar was standing right next to the Irish boy, eyebrows furrowed.

“Wow I didn’t think that you’d have some dickhead friends,” Liam said, voice low and his expression hard as he eyed Louis from head to toe.

Louis thought about apologizing at first because damn he had just insulted an apparently worldwide superstar and he had definitely made a fool of himself but then again this guy had just called him dickhead so why should he apologize then?

“Really?” he questioned instead, voice threatening, “You finally show up after twenty minutes and yet decide to call me a dickhead?”

“Just returning the favor here I guess,” Liam replied and shrugged while Louis only scoffed and stepped closer to the taller boy.

Out of the corner of his eyes he could see the security guards watching him careful eyes, ready to jump in if needed.

“Listen here prick,” he said, poking the man in the chest with his finger, “We came here to celebrate yet you took the balcony even though I booked it but apparently your famous ass seems to be more important and then we have to wait twenty minutes for you to finally show up to meet an old friend and yet here you are calling me a dickhead?”

“Louis come on,” Niall spoke, tugging Louis by his arm, moving between him and Liam. He turned to face his best friend, his back turned to Liam whose expression was hard and cold.

“Just go back to the others. I’ll be back in a little bit,” he said shoving the older boy a little it. “Come on now mate, don’t make a scene here.”

“Fucking prick,” Louis muttered under his breath as he walked away leaving both Niall and Liam stand by themselves.

Before one of them had the chance to say something someone was suddenly grabbing Liam, tugging on his arm, screaming loudly.

“Oh my god it’s you,” a teenage girl shrieked but before she even had a chance to say something else the security guards had stormed over and had pried the girl away from Liam who looked rather upset.

The thing was that Liam was somehow used to it. He knew that he was in the center of the spotlight rather often because he was famous and he didn’t mind meeting fans most of the time but sometimes it simply got too much. He didn’t like people screaming in his ear and hugging him, nearly breaking his ribs in the progress.

Some of the fans were rather disrespectful, showing up in front of his house, mobbing him at the airport while some others were sweet and friendly, staying behind and asking him nicely if it was okay for him to take a picture with her.

“You’re causing a scene here. You should probably head back upstairs,” the nicer one of the bodyguards said as he noticed some people staring at Liam like he was some kind of animal at the zoo.

“Come with me then,” Liam suddenly said to Niall and took his hand, leading him up the stairs to the private area of the club.

“I really don’t want to interfere,” Niall argued and stopped right at the end of the stairway.

“You’re not,” Liam argued before he started to smile. “I didn’t even say hi to you. It’s great to see you again!”

With that he pulled the Irish boy into a tight hug which Niall happily returned. He had noticed that Liam had gained some muscles and he had gotten a few tattoos but they all looked very good on him.

“Sorry about Louis. He’s usually not like that,” Niall apologized on behalf of his friend but Liam only shrugged, obviously not interested in hearing it.

“Come on now I want you to meet some guys.”

With that the two of them walked into the lounging area and Niall was amazed to see so many people there. There were both men and woman, some older looking ones while some of them looked quite young.

Everyone was chatting happily, drinks in their hands, not bothered by Niall at all.

“There you are,” someone suddenly said as he made his way over to both Liam and Niall.

“Oh hey. Zayn this is Niall, an old friend from the X-Factor, Niall this is Zayn, my stylist,” he introduced them to each other.

“Oh another superstar then?” Zayn questioned and Niall blushed a little bit at the question. Truth to be told he had always dreamed of being famous but sadly unlike for Liam things hadn’t worked out for him.

He had soon learned the hard way that there was barely a chance to get into the music business without having some help and so he had decided to go to Uni, playing smaller gigs at weddings or birthday parties but that was it.

“Sadly not. Didn’t work out for me the way it did for Liam,” he said but shrugged, not wanting to get upset about it. His life was good.

“Well who knows what’s in store for you, right?” Liam smiled and patted Niall on his back before leading him over to the black leather couch in the back where a curly haired boy was sitting.

“Niall, this is Harry, my assistant,” he once again introduced a member of his team and Niall leant down and shook Harry’s hand.

“Nice to meet you,” the curly haired boy replied with a soft smile before returning his focus back to the tablet in his lap.

“Harry is the one who coordinates everything. He books the flights, reserves the rooms at the hotels, works out the tour dates and all this stuff. He’s like the head of my assistance team,” Liam explained and Niall sent Harry another soft smile.

“So let’s drink, huh?” Liam said as he reached over the table for the bottle of vodka standing there, filling up two glasses and handing one to Niall.

The two of them spent the entire night drinking and talking. They remembered the days back at the X-Factor and then talked about whatever came to their minds. Niall did enjoy himself so much that he had completely forgotten about the time. It was nearly three in the morning when Harry walked over to them and placed his hand on a laughing Liam’s shoulder.

“Liam we should go now. You have a show tomorrow,” he told him while Liam nodded his head.

“Right of course,” he replied, his voice a little bit slurred but no too much to wake up hangover the next morning.

Liam was a professional. He knew that getting drunk the night before having a show wouldn’t result in anything good. He’d probably wake up feeling nauseous and then head straight back to bed after throwing up and sleeping for the rest of the day.

On a normal occasion Liam wouldn’t care but he knew that he had fans that were relying on him and he never wanted to let them down and so he never drank too much before a show day.

“Why don’t you come down to watch the show tomorrow night? It’s at the O2 arena.”

Niall’s face lit up and he eagerly nodded, really wanting to see the show since he hadn’t been able to get tickets in the first place, all of the fangirls probably buying them just seconds after they went on sale.

“I’d love to,” Niall replied then cleared his throat and ran his hand through his hair. “Do you think that I can bring a friend as well?”

“You mean that dickhead you were with tonight, right?” Liam questioned, disgust in his voice.

“He’s a good guy. He was just pissed because he had this all planned for me and then we got this table somewhere on the floor instead of up here and I guess he just snapped. He’s a great guy, I promise.”

“Well okay if you say so. Bring him then. I’ll let Harry know that you’re coming. Let me give you mine and Harry’s number so you can contact us once you arrive.”

The two boys quickly exchanged their numbers, Liam promising Niall to text him the details.

Niall then said his goodbyes to Liam, Zayn and Harry, giving them a quick hug before leaving the balcony and walking back down, saying “thank you” to the two guards who had made all of this happen.

The dancefloor wasn’t that crowded anymore because it was past three in the morning so a lot of people had left already. Niall quickly scanned the crowd but didn’t see Louis anywhere so he continued to walk through the club.

When he reached their little lounge he found both Sophia and Eleanor snogging some guys. Probably the ones they had danced with hours ago. His friend Josh was barely conscious, drooling slightly as his head dropped to his chest and Niall was sure that he was going to have one hell of a hangover in the morning.

“Hey girls,” he asked as he grabbed Eleanor by the arm, causing the younger girl to open her eyes and end the kiss with her date in confusion, eyebrows furrowed together as she turned to face him.

“Nialler. Sweet Irish Nialler,” she yelled over the music, her speech sounding quite slurred.

“Have you seen Louis somewhere?”

“Louis with the perfect bum?” she giggled then moaned when the boy next to her started sucking on her neck, his hands dancing around her stomach and breasts.

“He left hours ago.”

After that the brunette girl focused back on the boy, completely ignoring Niall.

The blond boy let his eyes wander around the dance floor once again, not seeing his best friend upon the people left dancing. He briefly wondered if Louis had really gone home already, guilt settling in his stomach.

He had actually promised Louis to be right back but had then spent hours sitting with Liam and his friends instead of celebrating his birthday with the people he had planned to.

“Come on Josh, let’s get you home,” he then suggested figuring out that there was no point in staying any longer.

Josh didn’t really acknowledge him as he hoisted him up, draped his hand over his shoulder before moving his own hand to rest on Josh’s hip, supporting his weight as they stumbled out of the club.

*

Once Niall had managed to get Josh to bed, he walked over to his own flat, pulling out the key and unlocking the door.

He was greeted with silence at first. Panic started creeping up on him because he didn’t see Louis’ shoes or jacket in the hallway. He had no idea if Louis had come home or not. They usually always left together or let the other one know what was happening but Louis’ hadn’t texted or called at all.

Niall pulled his phone out of his pocket one more time to check if he had missed any texts or calls but there was no notification. The clock read 3:43 in the morning and Niall felt the energy and adrenaline leave his body.

He walked down the hall, pausing in front of Louis’ door. He opened is quietly and then sighed in relief when he made out Louis lying under the covers, soft snores filling the room.

Closing the door Niall walked over to his own bedroom where he quickly stripped out of his clothes until he wasn’t wearing more than his boxers and crawled under the covers. Too tired to shower or brush his teeth the boy fell asleep moments later.

*

When Niall woke up he instantly closed his eyes again. The sun was shining into the room and when Niall checked the time he saw that it was a few minutes after elven o’clock.

Memories from last night rushed back to his brain and the Irish boy sat up happily as he realized that he had a concert to attend tonight. He however still didn’t know where he was supposed to meet Liam or his assistant Harry because he hadn’t texted him yet.

It was like Liam had read his thoughts because Niall’s phone buzzed seconds later and a text message from Liam popped up on the screen.

 

**From: Liam**

_Hey mate! Just come to the O2 arena today. I’ll be there around three p.m. but you can come whenever you like. Show starts at 7.30. Walk inside and then move to the VIP section right next to Entrance A. Just go over there and tell them that you’re on the guest list and that Harry Styles is supposed to pick you up. They’ll give him a ring then and he’ll come get you. See you later man! Xxx_

Niall quickly sent a thank you text back to his friend before getting out of bed. He had usually planned to not move out off bed at all today thinking that he’d be too hungover to do so since he had planned to celebrate his birthday with a lot of alcohol but last night had taken a different turn.

Once Niall walked outside of his room he could hear his best friend and flat mate Louis making coffee in the kitchen and so he walked over, thinking that having some coffee was indeed a good idea.

*

When Louis Tomlinson woke up on Saturday morning he needed a minute to get his braincells to work. He then started remembering all of the things that had happened the night before and instantly felt pissed again.

He had gone to the club with Niall and some friends from Uni to celebrate both Niall’s birthday and the beginning of another year at Uni but then Niall had met his old friend Liam Payne, who Louis had taken complete dislike in in the matter of seconds, and had disappeared with him, promising to be back in a few minutes.

A few minutes had turned into half an hour and an hour after waiting around and watching his friends get proper drunk Louis had downed some shots as well but barely enough to get real drunk before deciding that he wasn’t going to wait for Niall to come back and so he had left the club after having an awful night there.

When Louis stepped out of the bedroom the flat was still quiet but he noticed that Niall’s bedroom door was now closed so he had gotten home at least.

Louis was about to pour some fresh coffee into his favorite mug – the one with grumpy cat on it -  when Niall shuffled into the room, hair all over the place.

The thing was that Louis was upset about Niall leaving him by himself like that and he definitely wasn’t planning on letting this go easily.

“Good morning,” Niall said and opened the cupboard to take out his own mug – the one with the flag of Ireland.

“Hey,” Louis grumbled, not wanting to meet Niall’s gaze. He took his coffee and walked over to the living room, placing the mug on the small table and then flopping down on the couch.

“Louis, I’m sorry,” Niall suddenly said as he sat down right next to his friend.

“Sure,” Louis scoffed. “We came to celebrate your birthday and yet you ditched us all to spend time with some stupid bloke who assaulted me!”

“I’m quite sure that you called him a dick before he even had a chance to meet you on a normal basis,” Niall argued while Louis only rolled his eyes.

“So you’re on his side now?” he pressed, his voice cold.

“I’m on no one’s side. You both said some uncalled things to each other and I’m sorry for ditching you like that. I was just so happy to see him again and we had so much to talk about,” Niall apologized.

“Sure it’s not like all of us paid for this only to have you spend your evening with someone else. We couldn’t even get you because those stupid security guards wouldn’t let us come and get you!”

“Hey come on, we can go out again next week or something like that and then I’ll pay for all of your drinks,” Niall suggested and looked straight into Louis’ eyes.

Louis could see nothing but truth in his friend’s eyes.

“Two nights,” he said. “We’re going out on two nights and you’re paying on both of them!”

“That’s a deal,” Niall replied and grinned.

“You know that I went home sober last night? I was alone and I was sober. When did this ever happen before?” Louis chuckled and even Niall had to admit that this wasn’t typical for someone like Louis.

“Liam invited me to his concert at the O2 arena today. He said I could bring you as well. Are you coming with me?”

“I’m not going to meet this dick and his music isn’t even that good. I’ve listened to some songs!”

“Are you just saying this because you are upset? His music is brilliant and I know you well enough to know that this is the kind of music that you like.”

“Okay good it’s not that bad but I still don’t want to come with you,” Louis protested.

“You know that we’re going to be his personal guests? He’s a worldwide superstar so I’m quite sure that some other celebrities are going to be there as well. And he has both a pretty fit assistant and stylist,” Niall winked and when Louis still didn’t look convinced he looked at him with puppy dog eyes.

“Please?” he begged. “Please? It’s no fun to watch the show on my own.”

Louis sighed, knowing that there was no point to argue any further and so he agreed. Niall squealed in excitement and hugged his best friend before telling him all the details even though Louis didn’t really listen. He just knew that he had to see Liam fucking Payne again and he definitely wasn’t looking forward to it.

*

“Tell me again why are we here this early?” Louis questioned as he and Niall walked into the O2 arena a little bit after four o’clock.

“He said we could come whenever we wanted and I wanted to be here early. Maybe we can listen to the soundcheck and explore a little bit.”

Louis followed Niall as he walked over to the VIP entrance and talked to people standing there.

“I’ll give him a ring, just give me a second,” one of the women replied and then told Niall that someone would pick them up shortly.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Louis groaned while Niall only grinned from ear to ear. It was obvious to see that the boy was excited.

After a few more minutes of standing around – Louis watched the people that were already waiting for the doors to open even though it’d take another three hours – a very hot looking guy with chocolate brown curls, bright green eyes, skinny jeans and a black t-shirt walked over to them, giving Niall a hug.

“It’s nice to see you again,” the man said and then moved over to Louis, extending his hand. “I’m Harry, Liam’s assistant.”

“Louis, nice to meet you,” Louis introduced himself and then followed both Niall and Harry inside the arena.

“Liam is about to start sound checking so just come with me,” Harry explained and led them into the still empty arena.

In a few hours about 20000 people were going to be there but right now it was quiet and calm. Some staff members were still putting up barriers while a few people were just standing around. Liam was standing on stage when Louis and Niall walked in with Harry.

While Niall waved happily, Louis also raised his hand and waved at Liam but not as excited to which Liam nodded his head, smiling.

When soundcheck started Louis had to admit that Liam was indeed a beautiful man. He was quite tall and muscular but also skinny. Like he for sure had some abs but didn’t look big. He had a very pretty face and was wearing a beard that suited him well.

Liam’s voice was incredible. He could literally sing anything. Some of his songs were calm and slow while some others were complete dancing songs making you want to jump out of your seat. Liam practiced three songs, all of them quite different from each other, and after he was done Louis was left speechless.

Maybe Liam wasn’t so bad after all.

*

“Hey man it’s nice to see you again,” Liam greeted his friend Niall with a hug as he and Louis walked into his dressing room a few minutes after soundcheck had ended.

“You too,” Niall replied then looked at Louis. “I know you probably said some stupid things to each other yesterday so I suggest you start all over. Louis this is Liam, an old friend of mine. Liam this is Louis my flat mate and best friend,” he introduced the two of them to one another.

“I’m sorry about yesterday. I was just so pissed,” Louis said as he shook Liam’s hand and looked at him apologetically.

“It’s fine. I’m sorry for calling you a dickhead as well,” Liam replied and chuckled making Louis laugh as well and so Niall felt like the ice had been broken.

The boys spent the rest of the afternoon in Liam’s dressing room, talking and playing Fifa. Harry and Liam’s stylist Zayn had joined them as well and it was really nice.

They were laughing a lot and Louis had to admit that Liam was indeed a very beautiful person. Hell even Harry and Zayn were hot but Liam was something else. He was the definition of sex and Louis caught himself staring at the other boys a few times.

Niall would wink at him from time to time obviously quite aware of what was going on, grinning from ear to ear while Louis’ cheeks burned with embarrassment.

“Hey lads what do you think about going out tonight? I have a few days off so tonight I can get drunk,” Liam suggested and everyone happily agreed, Louis just because he was eager to spend some more time with Mr. Superstar.

“Alright that’s set then. Harry? Mind booking us a lounge somewhere?”

“Already on it,” the curly haired boy replied, took out his phone and left the room to complete his mission.

It was about an hour later when Zayn guided Louis and Niall to a private box at the O2 arena from where they had a great view. Once they were alone Niall nudged Louis and grinned at him.

“Sooo,” he started chuckling. “Like something you see?”

“Oh shut up, Niall,” Louis replied, punching his friend on his arm slightly.

“You’re head over heels for him. I can see how you look at him.”

“Okay, okay. He’s pretty fit and maybe he’s a lot nicer than I thought. Are you happy now?”

“Much!”

Another thought than ran through Louis’ head. He ran his hand through his light brown hair, listening to the music that was being played before the show.

“Is he even gay?”

“He’s bixesual so don’t worry,” Niall quickly reassured him and Louis felt like a weight had been lifted of his chest.

Both boys continued to chat a little bit, watching the crowd and listening to Liam’s pre-show playlist. The fans were loud. Some of them had brought banners with them, some of them were already singing and dancing while some others were checking the time every few seconds to find out if Liam was about to hit the stage sometime soon.

When the lights went out everyone was screaming loudly. Niall was clapping his hands like an excited child while Louis focused on the stage, wanting to catch a glimpse of Liam.

*

Both boys literally had the time of their lives at the concert. They were signing along, clapping and dancing and Louis was quite sure that Liam looked up to them from time to time but then again maybe he hadn’t and he was just imagining things.

Sometime during the show Zayn and Harry had joined them as well and they also had started dancing around happily, Harry having the funniest dance moves.

For once Louis felt completely happy. He didn’t worry about his last your at Uni, didn’t worry about having to pay the bills or not being able to see his family that often anymore. Louis had six siblings, the youngest two of them were only three years old and even though his mother had a lovely husband she sometimes struggled with not having all of her kids around.

Louis’ family was living in Doncaster. It was a three hour drive from London and so Louis didn’t go home often. He always went home over the holidays but he didn’t have a car and so he had to take the train and it took his even longer than.

His younger sister Lottie was eighteen years old and she had also mentioned moving to London for her education. Lottie wanted to become a professional make-up artist or stylist and so she was going to attend classes in London and then move here as well.

Fizzy or Felicite was sixteen years old and she was definitely going to study at Uni. She was the type of person to become a doctor and so in a year or two she would also leave her childhood-home behind to start her own life.

Of course Louis’ mother Johannah knew that this was how things worked but it still hurt her to see her kids grow up that fast.

“Thank you London, good night!” Liam screamed into the microphone after one and a half hours and once again the crowd went crazy. They screamed and clapped, threw things on stage and continued to sing Liam’s songs.

It was nice to see that they were so dedicated.

“Let’s go,” Zayn suggested as the lights were turned on, announcing that the show was indeed over.

The boys pushed through some people, showing some guards their lanyard that said “Access all Areas” before being allowed to go backstage.

When they walked back into the dressing room where they had sat together hours ago Liam was currently standing in the room in nothing but his boxers.

Louis’ eyes wandered over the boy’s body. His muscles were indeed looking amazing. The abs on his stomach were on display, a really nice six-pack was hidden under his shirt and his boxers looked rather tight, a nice looking bulge now visible.

“Oh hey, I’m just about to take a quick shower and then we can head out. Make yourself comfortable,” Liam quickly said not bothered by the other boys standing in his dressing room, grabbing his stuff and walking over to the bathroom that was attached to the room, closing the door behind him.

Louis’ knees suddenly felt weak. His cheeks were bright red, he could feel it and his heart was beating a little faster than usual so he made his way over to the couch and sat down with a sigh, Niall chuckling as he sat down next to him.

“Like what you see?” he teased while Harry and Zayn both snickered at the comment, making Louis’ face turn even more red.

“Oh shut up,” Louis snapped, playfully hitting Niall’s arm, putting his hands over his face.

“Just so you know, he keeps staring at your bum whenever he gets the chance to,” Harry informed him, making Louis groan at those words. They for sure were just making this up. There was no chance that Liam freaking Payne was interested in him in any way. It simply was impossible.

It wasn’t that Louis though that he was ugly he just knew that he wasn’t as beautiful as other people were and someone like Liam Payne was definitely not interested in him.

*

It was about an hour later when the boys stood in front of the Funky Buddah once again. Louis grinned when he entered the club, seeing the manager from the night before fussing over Liam.

“Good evening Mr. Payne. It’s a pleasure to have you spend the night at our club once again,” he said in a sweet voice and Liam just rolled his eyes before following the man into the club, the others following right behind.

“Today you get to sit up there,” Liam whispered into his ear and pointed at the balcony , making Louis smile.

“You really didn’t have to invite us. I know that this is quite expensive,” he replied but Liam only shrugged.

“I just played in front of 20.000 people, I think I earned some money so don’t worry about it!”

Once they reached the private area Liam ordered a shitload of drinks while Zayn went to explore the dancefloor with Niall. Harry was left sitting with Liam and Louis excused himself minutes later, muttering something about not wanting to disturb.

“So just you and me then,” Liam said as he poured some vodka into a glass, adding some Red Bull to it as well before making a second one and handing it to Louis.

“Cheers,” Louis said, raising his glass, smiling at Liam.

“Cheers! I’m happy that I met you, you’re really beautiful,” Liam added before downing his shot, Louis nearly choking on his upon hearing those words.

“I can’t believe I called you an asshole twenty-four hours ago without even knowing you.”

“I called you a dickhead that’s also not that nice,” Liam chuckled, resting his hand on Louis knee. “I’m glad we put this aside. So tell me did you enjoy the show?”

*

Liam and Louis spent the entire evening talking about whatever came to their minds. Louis told the other boy about his family, his siblings, studying at Uni, living with Niall while Liam mostly talked about his career, how much he hated being away from his family for so long, how happy he was to have Zayn and Harry because they were like brothers to him.

He also told Louis that he was quite lonely from time to time. He always had a lot of people on tour with him but he had never been able to get himself a boyfriend or girlfriend. He had had some short relationships but being famous and being in a relationship wasn’t easy.

It was about two in the morning when Niall stumbled over to the two of them, clearly drunk. He let himself fall down on the couch, and then started to giggle.

“You two are so cute,” he giggled, his speech slurred. “Why don’t you just make out?”

“Niall, you’re drunk,” Louis stated. He had drunk quite some alcohol himself but wasn’t as drunk as Niall.

“I think you should probably get him home. I’ll text my driver,” Liam suggested, his head a little bit foggy as well but not that bad. He’s had a lot more to drink on other days so he was still quite aware of what was going on around him.

A few minutes later – Louis had managed to find both Harry and Zayn as well – the five boys were sitting in a van, Niall snoring from the backseat, Zayn and Harry happily drunk right next to him.

There were quite busy taking off their clothes for some reason and Louis and Liam only laughed, watching them fail to get their shirts off.

“Are you going to take care of them?” Louis asked, laughing as Zayn cursed loudly.

“We’re kind of used to taking care of each other after a night out. They’ll be fine.”

When the car stopped in front of Uni both Liam and Louis helped Niall out of the car, holding onto him to prevent him from face-diving into the asphalt.

“I’ll help you get him to bed,” Liam then offered and put his arm around Niall’s waist while Louis hoisted one of Niall’s arms over his shoulder.

“Louuu I feel funny,” the boy said, his speech slurred, eyes only half open, barely able to walk.

“We’ll get you to bed in a minute, babe,” said boy replied and was glad when they reached the flat. He quickly unlocked the door and then let Liam guide Niall over to his bed.

“I can take it from here. Thank you so much!” Louis said then looked at Liam who was looking at him. “Let me walk you out.”

“Thank you for this fantastic day. I really enjoyed it,” Louis thanked Liam who only looked at him.

Bright blue eyes met brown ones and for a moment it seemed like time stood still but then Liam moved forward, rested his hand on Louis’ cheek and softly pressed his lips to the other boy’s.

Louis was shocked at first but quickly kissed back, pushing Liam a little bit so that he was now leaning against the wall. The kiss was hot and fierce and Louis for sure didn’t want it to end but then he remembered that he had Niall to take care of and Liam had to get Harry and Zayn home.

“You should get Harry and Zayn home,” Louis suggested as he ended the kiss, Liam looking back at him with lustful eyes.

“Maybe we can meet up sometime soon again?”

“I’m sure we will! Good night, Liam!”

*

The following day – Niall was in the bathroom throwing up and complaining about having a headache – Louis found a small piece of paper in the pocket of his jeans. He pulled it out and unfolded it and smiled when he saw that it was Liam’s phone number.

“Hey Nialler do you need anything?” he asked as he walked into the bathroom and saw his friends resting his head on the toilet seat, his arm wrapped around his stomach.

“I’ll just die here,” the Irish boy replied and groaned as another wave of nausea hit him, forcing him back to his knees to kneel in front of the toilet once again.

“I’ll make you some tea then,” Louis suggested and left the bathroom, the smell of vomit making him nauseous as well.

When he walked into the kitchen he quickly reached for his phone and saved Liam’s number. He then clicked on WhatsApp and sent a message to the boy.

**To: Liam**

_Thanks again for yesterday! How are Zayn and Harry? Niall is currently puking his guts out. Xx_

It only took a few moments for Liam to write back and Louis liked to picture the boy staring anxiously at his phone all morning, hoping to receive a text from him.

**From: Liam**

_Managed to get both of them back to bed. How are you doing? I was wondering if you’d like to go out_ _for dinner with me tonight? Xx_

Louis heart started beating faster momentarily. Did Liam Payne just ask him out? Louis didn’t need to think twice before replying to Liam.

**To: Liam**

_I’d love to. Where and when?_

After that he put his phone to the side, his inside already tingling at the thought of having dinner with no one else than a worldwide superstar.

For a minute Louis thought about calling his mother and letting her know what was going on or telling his sisters, who apparently were big fans of Liam Payne but then he decided against doing it because it was just a date, right? He didn’t even know if he’d enjoy his time even though he was quite sure about it.

Louis then took the steaming hot cup of tea and carried it into bathroom only to see that Niall was now leaning against the wall between the tub and the toilet, his hands resting on his knees, head hanging low but all in all his appearance looked a little bit better.

“Here’s your tea,” Louis said as he placed the mug in front of his friend, clearing his throat. “If you need anything just yell, I need to look for something to wear for my date with Liam tonight.”

Niall’s head shot up in a second, his neck hurting from the force of it. Niall’s eyes were wide, his mouth slightly ajar. For a moment everything was spinning again and he was nervous about throwing up again but then his stomach settled down a little bit.

“What?” he asked in disbelief. “You’re going on a date with Liam?”

“Yep,” Louis replied, popping the “p”.

“I’m really happy for you, man,” Niall answered before leaning back against the wall once again, trying to fight off another wave of nausea attacking him.

*

It was six o’clock when Louis put on his shoes, hands shaking. Niall was standing in the doorway of the living room, looking a lot better than hours ago, smiling at him.

“Have fun tonight and tell Liam I said hi,“ he told his best friend who only nodded, too nervous to say anything.

His heart was beating rapidly against his chest and he kept looking at himself through the mirror every few seconds.

When the doorbell suddenly rang the boy nearly jumped out off his skin before grabbing the handle and opening the door.

There he was. Liam was standing in the hallway, looking like a god. He was wearing tight black skinny jeans, a dark blue button-up shirt and a  black blazer. His hair looked so soft yet completely in place even though it was rather windy outside and Louis wondered if Harry and Zayn had helped him getting ready.

“You look amazing,” Liam suddenly blurted out as he stared at Louis.

Louis was wearing some tight black skinny jeans as well, along with a white T-Shirt and grey blazer. He had put on some sneakers and looked simply amazing.

“Same to you”, Louis replied as his eyes met Liam’s.

From behind Niall was groaning and rolling his eyes. “Just go already,” he whined and waved at Liam who only laughed.

“Let’s get going then. Bye Niall!”

As soon as the door was closed Liam entwined his fingers with Louis’, looking at him skeptically to figure out if he was okay with this sort of contact.

Louis only squeezed his hand tighter and let his thumb run over Liam’s hand until they reached the car.

Liam held the door open for Louis to get in like a true gentleman and so their date started.

*

The boys had dinner at this expensive Italian restaurant right in the middle of London. They were seated in a private area because Liam for sure didn’t want anyone to ruin this date.

He had had a lot of bad experiences with both paparazzi and fans. Paparazzi earned a lot of money for taking some exclusive pictures, not caring about anything else. They always had the money on their minds and were quite disrespectful.

The fans were different but still the same sometimes. Most of them were nice when they met Liam somewhere and he tried to stop for pictures whenever he got the chance to. However sometimes he stumbled upon some fans who were rather pushy and aggressive, wanting to get a picture, a hug, a tattoo, an autograph. Those fans usually also tweeted about where they had met their idol and so it sometimes happened that Liam got mobbed.

If someone had seen him and Louis enter the restaurant tonight and had tweeted about it they were for sure going to get mobbed by fans and paparazzi waiting outside of the restaurant.

But luckily they had gotten into the restaurant through a side entrance and were now sitting in this private area enjoying their dinner.

They had started with some mozzarella salad, before moving on to their main dish. Liam was eating some salmon with noodles and vegetables while Louis was eating pasta with asparagus.

Both boys had a great time together. They laughed and talked a lot and Liam had also reached over the table to hold Louis’ hand, kissing his knuckles softly.

After the boys got served their dessert – mousse au chocolat- they decided to leave the restaurant and head back to Liam’s house to relax a little bit.

*

Over the next two weeks Liam and Louis spent a lot of time together. They went on a lot of dates, spent their free time together and sometimes Louis would spend his day watching Liam work while Liam would watch Louis study from time to time.

Louis had attended two more concerts of Liam in London along with Niall who was probably the biggest “LiLo” shipper as he called them. They had gotten quite close to Zayn and Harry as well, forming some kind of squad.

The fans and media had yet to find out about Liam Payne dating someone but to be honest Louis was glad about it. He wasn’t someone who wanted to be in the spotlight.

He had told his family about him dating someone but even then hadn’t told them who he was dating. He had told them that he was really happy and that the boy was called Liam but that was it and his mother seemed to be okay with this information probably thinking that Louis was going to tell her more once he was sure that they were going to last.

Tonight Liam and Louis had decided to go for a late night stroll in London. It was the beginning of October. The weather had been quite bad the past couple of days and it was misty and cold in London.

Louis had even put on a beanie tonight no wanting to get sick while Liam was just wearing a grey coat.

“I love how beautiful London looks by night,” Liam raved, looking at all the lights.

They were close to the London Eye now and a lot of people were still out.

“I love you, Liam,” Louis said all of a sudden and turned his face to kiss his boyfriend who quickly retuned the kiss.

“I love you too!”

They both continued their stroll around the city when all of a sudden two girls came running over to them, stopping in front of Liam.

“Oh my god it’s you. I can’t believe it,” one of them babbled, pushing her phone into her friends’ hand.

“Can we get a picture with you?” the girl asked and instantly stood to Liam’s right, wrapping her arms around him in the progress, making Louis step back from the scene.

“Yes of course,” Liam replied politely yet a little bit stunned but put on a smile nevertheless.

“Who are you with?” the second girl asked as they changed places.

Liam turned around to look at Louis who was smiling at him but looking rather nervous about all of this.

“I’m with my boyfriend,” he told the girls who squealed in surprise and started taking pictures of Louis as well, asking a hundred questions.

“How long have you been together?”

“What’s your name?”

“How old are you?”

Liam quickly stepped in, took Louis by the hand, looked at the teenagers once more before saying.

“We really have to leave now. I was nice to meet you!”

With that he turned around and walked away with his boyfriend but the “damage” had been done and tonight luck wasn’t on Liam’s side.

“I’m really sorry babe,” Liam started apologizing as they came to a stop a couple of minutes later.

“It’s fine,“ Louis quickly reassured his lover and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “I’m in a relationship with a popstar so I figured that this was going to happen sooner or later.”

It happened all of a sudden. Liam and Louis were standing at the pier, having an intimate moment when cameras suddenly started clicking and the flashing of cameras cut through the night.

Both Liam and Louis broke apart, eyes wide and while Louis stood back, Liam looked furious. There were about four paparazzi and some younger girls as well. Liam also made out the two fans from earlier who had probably twittered their pictures straight after meeting Liam and Louis.

“Get the fuck away,” Liam yelled frustrated as he tried to push his was through the crowd.

Louis kept his head down and let his boyfriend guide him. He was being blinded by the lights and everything felt surreal. People were yelling at them, asking them to pose together, to kiss, to look into the cameras but Liam wasn’t having any of that.

He kept pushing his way through the crowd, knocking a camera out of a paparazzi’s hands in anger, not caring about the fact that it could be broken.

Once they had made it through the crowd Liam started running. Of course they were being followed but then a taxi came into sight and Liam wasted no time, waving at the driver so that he would let them in.

Once they were sitting inside of the taxi Liam told the driver his address but also explained to him that he should drive around the city for a little while longer as an attempt to stop someone from following before heading to his house.

He handed the driver, an older looking man, 100 pounds before he even started driving and so the man did what he had been told.

Liam then moved closer to his boyfriend who was looking quite scared. Louis was shaking from both running and being scared. He had never seen nor witnessed something like that and it had been horrifying. He knew that this had only been a small crowd and he didn’t like to imagine this happening with a few more people.

“Are you okay, baby?” Liam asked softly, wrapping his arms around his slightly older boyfriend, pressing a soft kiss to his temple.

“How do you deal with this?” Louis whispered, his voice shaking as he tried to get his breathing back to normal.

“You get used to it somehow. Most of the time I have a bodyguard with me as well,” Liam explained and Louis only nodded, letting the adrenaline leave his body, slumping against his lover, clinging to him.

When Liam and Louis arrived at Liam’s house an hour later no one was waiting outside or had been following them so they walked into the house, sighing in relief.

“I’m so, so sorry that you had to go through this tonight,” Liam once again apologized, remembering the first time he had been mobbed, knowing how scary this experience had been.

“Don’t blame this on yourself,” Louis quickly reassured him. “I’m with you because I love you and things like that won’t push me away from you.”

Liam pressed a soft kiss on Louis’ lips, pushing the smaller boy against the wall, his hands roaming over Louis’ body.

Blue eyes stared into brown ones, the lust clearly visible and so Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson spent their first night together.

*

When Louis woke up the next morning he was confused at first but then the memories came rushing back to his head. He was lying in Liam’s bed, his lover nowhere to be seen.

The boy reached for his phone on the nightstand and was confused when he saw that he had seven missed calls from Niall, two from his mother, one from Lottie and a couple of unread messages. At 8.30 in the morning.

Confused Louis opened one of the messages, most of them from Niall.

From: Nialler

Tommo where are u? Are u with Liam? You’re all over the internet. Call me! Xxxx

Louis then went online and really wished he hadn’t. The internet was full of the same story: Liam Payne spends a night-out with mysterious boyfriend

There were tons of articles – Louis wasn’t interested in reading them – and loads of pictures. Louis and Liam kissing, holding hands, pushing through the crowd, Liam looking pissed, Louis standing behind him with wide eyes.

“Just great,” he muttered under his breath and let his head fall down on the pillow again. Now he had to explain this to everyone and he definitely wasn’t in the mood.

The boy was pulled out of his thoughts when the bedroom door was being opened and Liam walked in. He was wearing nothing but boxers and looked so hot.

“Oh you’re awake,” he stated then froze when he noticed the phone in his boyfriends’ hand. “I guess you’ve been online?”

Louis only nodded yes.

“You know that I am sorry about this, right? I understand if this is too much for you. If you want to leave then I won’t blame you. This is what happens every time I get comfortable with someone. Being mobbed and being left behind when I go on tour – these things always tear a relationship apart.”

Louis sat up and moved over to where Liam was sitting on the side of the bed, resting his head on his lovers shoulder.

“I told you already but I’m going to tell you again. This is not going to drive me away. We will work this out together. You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

“Louis Tomlinson, I love you !”

*

Louis had thought that things would calm down after a few days but apparently they got worse. It had been three days since the incident with the paparazzi. Liam had left to continue his tour – at least he was touring in England and Ireland now – the day before and Louis missed him already.

“Let’s go to class then,” Niall said on a Tuesday morning after he and Louis’ had finished their breakfast.

The good thing about being at Uni was that they didn’t have classes on Monday. They had like a three-day weekend so it was the first time going to meet people since Louis’ face had been on the cover of every single newspaper in England.

He still didn’t understand why the love life of a celebrity was this interesting to make it to the front page of magazines but then again he didn’t understand a lot of things.

It was a short walk from their dorms to the campus but long enough for people to start snickering and whispering when Louis and Niall waked by.

“Queer,” someone snarled as he walked past Louis, shoving him.

“Oh look the Faggot,” some other person – a girl Louis thought – yelled and pointed her finger at Louis when he reached the building.

Tears were welling up in Louis’ eyes as he listened to the things people were saying. He honestly didn’t know what was happening. He had never come out to someone at Uni because it hadn’t been important to him but even back at his old school no one had ever called him names.

An now here he was at a University, where young adults were studying but they obviously were more interested in bullying people.

“Hey, what’s your problem?” Niall asked angrily as he pushed some boy who had made another stupid comment about Louis.

“Oh so you’re gay too?” the guy asked, raising his eyebrows. “We really don’t need those gay germs on the campus. You’re sick and disgusting!”

Before anyone could react Niall punched the boy right into the face, probably breaking his nose. The boy fell to the ground, holding his bleeding nose, looking at up Niall with tears glistening in his eyes while Louis just looked shocked.

“You know what you twat?” Niall spat “I’m not gay but I will never stop to protect someone from being bullied over something that is completely okay. Like why do you even care? It’s not like Louis is harming you in any way by being together with a guy. God I never thought that people are actually like this!”

“It’s wrong!” the guy protested but quickly stopped himself from saying anything else when Niall balled his hand into a fist once more.

“And you are the one who gets to decide what’s right and what’s wrong? God you’re so sick! Now get the fuck away from here or I swear I’ll break more than that bloody nose of yours!”

Niall let out a breath, he hadn’t even realized he was holding and then turned around to face Louis who was standing there with a shocked expression on his face, tears running down his cheeks.

“Hey, hey, shh it’s okay,” Niall whispered as he pulled his friend into a hug, letting the boy sob against his chest. He didn’t care that his shirt got moist with Louis’ tears, he just needed Louis to know that he was there for him

Niall had always felt angered about people like that. He was hetero himself but that didn’t stop him from liking Louis as a friend.

Niall always had this line from Macklemore’s song in mind: _I might not be the same but that’s not important, no freedom ‘till we’re equal – damn right I support it!_

It was probably the most powerful message. All around the world people get discriminated until today for being gay and even though a lot of people were starting to open up about it, too many still didn’t accept it.

As long as everyone kept minding their own business and lived a happy life Niall was okay with it.

*

The next few days were just as bad for Louis. Niall had been suspended for three days for picking a fight with this boy even though he had punched him to defend Louis but their director hadn’t been interested in the story.

Louis had soon found out that some of his friends like Josh, Sophia and Eleanor kept sending him disgusting stares every now and then, not talking to him any longer while some other people still liked to push him around and call him names.

Louis’ mother had told her son to keep his head up high and to remember that they were going to get tired of this after a while, while Liam had no idea about what was going on.

The boy was currently touring through the country and Louis didn’t want to worry him with his stupid problems.

After another bad day at Uni Louis got home early on Friday. Niall, who was sitting on the couch in the living room, quickly got up and threw his hands in the air in frustration when he saw that Louis had a split lip.

“What happened?” he questioned upon inspecting the cut further.

“Some boys,” Louis shrugged, letting his head rest on his hands as he sat down.

“I’m going to talk to someone about this,” Niall said through gritted teeth but Louis told him to stop.

“I think I’ll go home for a little while,” Louis said and took Niall by surprise.

“Right now? It’s the middle of the semester,” he stated but once again Louis only shrugged.

“I need some time to think about this and I really miss my family. I’ll take the train tonight,” he explained but Niall only shook his head.

“We’re going to take my car and I’ll come with you!”

*

“Boo get up now,” Ernest, Louis’ youngest brother screamed as he ran into the room on Sunday morning, crawling on his brothers bed, poking him.

“Whaaa?”, the boy questioned, eyes lethargic with sleep.

“Get up. I wanna play,” the young boy said but wasn’t prepared for his older brother to start tickling him.

Soon the entire room was filled with giggles and laughter and even Niall, who had been woken up as well was laughing as he rubbed the sleep off his eyes.

“Let’s go then,” Louis replied before getting out of bed, Niall following behind.

The boys had arrived on Friday night, Louis’ mother already waiting for them.

From the second they had walked through the door they had been bombared by questions. Lottie and Fizzy had been quite upset with their brother for not telling him that he was dating someone famous while Phoebe and Daisy had just asked if he had gotten them something from London.

Ernest and Doris, the youngest pair of twins, had just been happy about their brother being home and had been attached to his side all day yesterday as well. Niall had been just as welcome as Louis’, trying to cheer his best friend up a little bit, facetiming with Liam, Harry and Zayn and explaining everything to them.

Of course Niall wouldn’t be Niall if he hadn’t done something about the entire situation and so he wasn’t surprised to find Harry, Zayn and Liam sitting at the table in the dining room when he and Louis walked in.

The Irish boy nearly bumped into Louis as he stopped dead in his tracks but couldn’t help the smile forming on his lips.

“Liam!”, Louis said as he walked over and quickly pulled his boyfriend into a bone-crashing hug letting go off all the walls he had built up.

He sobbed brokenly, Liam holding onto him, whispering sweet things into his ear while Harry continued to play with Doris, who was sitting in his lap, watching the scene with tears in his eyes.

*

It happened a few minutes later, the entire Tomlinson family was sitting around in the living room when Liam, got up and stood in the middle of the room.

Everyone turned their attention to the boy, Zayn and Harry smiling already while Louis looked just as confused as Niall.

“Louis, I know we’ve only known each other for such a short time but I’ve never fallen for someone as hard as I did for you. I love you with all my heart and I hate leaving you behind. I hate knowing that people are giving you a hard time at Uni. Harry, Zayn and I thought about this and we have a plan. I want you to come with me,” he blurted out taking Louis by surprise.

“Come with you?”

“I know that you have like one year of Uni left but maybe it’d be the best to stop for a year and let things calm down or you could also study while being on the road with me, we can for sure work something out. I simply don’t want to be separated from you for so long. And Niall,” he then said, turning his focus on the Irish boy. “I’m offering you the same thing. You could join us as well. My bassist Sandy quit yesterday because his girlfriend is pregnant and he wants to spend time with her or you cold be my opening act.”

Everyone in the room was silent for a little while but both Niall and Louis didn’t need to think about what to do and so they quickly said yes, Louis falling into his lovers arms, kissing him passionately.

And so it happened that Louis and Niall quit Uni and hit the road with Liam Payne, his stylist Zayn and his assistant Harry, the five of them having the time of their lives.

 


End file.
